Lions king and Twiggy honoured... as Palin gets his holy grail
FORMER Ireland rugby player Willie John McBride will get a CBE from the Queen this year, while former Monty Python star Michael Palin will finally find his holy grail and become a knight.
And ex-model and Sixties icon Twiggy will also make the honours list for her services to fashion, the arts and charity.
McBride, 78, captained the controversial 1974 Lions tour to South Africa, which was followed by anti-Apartheid protesters.
In recent years he has been involved with a number of charities, helping disabled and disadvantaged children.
‘I’m really thrilled, a CBE is terrific. When you get to this age, you think people have forgotten about you so it is nice to be remembered,’ he said.
McBride is from Toomebridge, Co. Antrim, and also on the list is fellow Irish sportsman Harry Gregg, who became a household name with 247 appearances for Manchester United in the 1950s and 1960s. The 86-year-old from Colraine, Co. Derry, became a hero after helping to pull survivors from the Munich air disaster wreckage, that saw 23 people killed. He is honoured for services to football.
Twiggy said she was told about her award three and a half weeks ago, and it has been ‘purgatory’ keeping it a secret ever since. She said she and her second husband Leigh Lawson, the actor, writer and director, had been reduced to giggles by the news.
Palin, 75, leader of the Knights Who Say Ni in Monty Python’s Search For the Holy Grail will be a Knight Commander of St Michael and St George.
The award is for his services to travel, culture and geography following his successful second career as a travel writer and television presenter. It also gives Palin the distinction of becoming the first member of Monty Python to receive a knighthood.
To mark his knighthood he said he may ‘just have a quiet celebration, just myself and a glass of Horlicks and then go to bed’.
Best-selling author Philip Pullman, 72, is to get a knighthood; actor Jim Carter, 70, who played butler Mr Carson in Downton Abbey, receives an OBE and children’s author Julia Donaldson, 70, whose works include The Gruffalo and Stick Man, receives an upgrade from MBE to CBE. Film maker Christopher Nolan, 48, whose work includes the Dark Knight trilogy as well as Dunkirk, receives a CBE. And Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, 74, gets a CBE.